According to data obtained by Action 7 News, more than 20,000 calls were made to police and firefighters reporting an intoxicated person passed out or wandering city streets.

Right now, emergency responders wait for a 911 call reporting someone drunk, or high on the street. From there, a cop, firefighter, and EMT show up to deal with the situation, taking up valuable time and resources.

Advertisement

But now, Bernalillo County is coming up with a new idea to get those people help without overwhelming local emergency rooms.

So Metropolitan Assessment and Treatment Services, or MATS, is putting a group together that will go out looking for people who need help.

The plan also targets intoxicated people going to emergency rooms by taking them to the detox center instead of leaving them to sober up in a hospital bed.

UNMH has partnered with MATS in the pilot program.

So far, the program has only done test runs, but when Action 7 News asked if UNMH has seen any significant change in their ER, MATS said the hospital saw enough of a change to keep the program alive.